Garland Folsom Pinholster (February 19, 1928 – September 20, 2020) was an

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

as well as

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

coach, elected to the Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1962. He is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Early years

Pinholster was born in

Clyattville, Georgia Clyattville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. It was established in the 1840s. The 2020 census listed a population of 552. History When Clyattville was first settled, t ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and was commissioned a lieutenant. He was a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

North Georgia College The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public university with multiple campuses in Georgia, United States. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013, through a merger of North Georgi ...

, a member of a team that won a state title in 1950.

Oglethorpe University

Pinholster most notably coached at

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder ...

from 1956 to 1966.

Basketball

He compiled a 181–67 record as a basketball coach. Pinholster developed the wheel offense, an offensive strategy developed in the late 1950s. It is a kind of continuity offense in which players move around in a circular pattern to create good scoring opportunities. The wheel offense is a popular offensive play, frequently used by teams from middle school to college levels because it can effectively work against any defense, including

zone defense Zone defense is a type of defensive system, used in team sports, which is the alternative to man-to-man defense; instead of each player guarding a corresponding player on the other team, each defensive player is given an area (a zone) to cover. ...

and

man-to-man defense Man-to-man defense, or man defense, is a type of defensive system used in team sports such as American football, association football, basketball and netball, as in which each player is assigned to defend and follow the movements of a single play ...

. He is one proposed inventor for the foul-line huddle. His teams were notable for their defense. He wrote several books on the sport, including ''Coach's Guide to Modern Basketball Defense ''.

United States national basketball

He coached the

United States men's national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as Team USA and the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful men's team in international competition, ...

including a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

finish at the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games, officially known as the IV Pan American Games () and commonly known as São Paulo 1963, were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted b ...

and fourth-place finish in the

1963 FIBA World Championship The 1963 FIBA World Championship was the 4th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The competition was hosted by Brazil from 12 to 25 May 1963. The Philippines was originally awarded ...

. The 1963 team included

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (June 25, 1942 – March 21, 2023) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and general manager. He spent his entire ten-year pro playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball ...

. Former coach Gary Colson once said "Garland Pinholster, for a period of time, was the best coach in the United States."

Business

After his days at Oglethorpe, he became one of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

's most successful business men.

Politics

Pinholster served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

from 1990 to 2002 and was a Republican. Pinholster became chairman of the minority caucus of the Georgia House of Representatives and was elected to the Georgia State Board of Transportation.

Death

He died on September 20, 2020, in

Ball Ground, Georgia Ball Ground is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The city was originally Cherokee territory before they were removed from the land and it was given to white settlers. A railroad was built in 1882 and a town was formed around t ...

at age 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinholster, Garland F. 1928 births 2020 deaths American men's basketball coaches Tennis coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Businesspeople from Atlanta Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) North Georgia Nighthawks men's basketball players Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels baseball coaches Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Lowndes County, Georgia United States men's national basketball team coaches United States Army officers 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly